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Download PDF Saarc foreign ministers yesterday put into operation a $300 million regional development fund and finalised the draft agreement on a security pact to share information about criminal activities.
They also decided that Sri Lanka will host the 15th Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit next year as the Maldives opted out Friday due to preoccupations with national elections.
Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee disclosed the decisions at the conclusion of the 29th Saarc council of ministers meeting in New Delhi yesterday.
A cell is being established in the Kathmandu-based Saarc Secretariat for implementing the Saarc Development Fund (SDF) projects, he said.
The council identified the social sector and physical connectivity projects as priorities, which include programmes for empowering women, enhancing quality of education and strengthening regional telemedicine networks.
Pranab also said that the council unanimously approved the security pact draft and directed legal experts from all the eight member states to attend a meeting in Colombo in April 2008 to hammer out the details of the Mutual Legal Assistance agreement.
“All the Saarc states are victims of terrorism and we should have mutual legal assistance to tackle terrorists and criminals in the region,” he said.
The draft, which does not include an extradition clause, is based on recommendations made by Saarc home ministers, who met in October this year.
On Friday, the Maldives moved back from holding the next summit as the government of the country would be preoccupied with its first multi-party elections under a new constitution next year.
“Owing to domestic preoccupations in 2008, the Maldives will be hosting the Saarc summit in 2009,”
Pranab said. “Sri Lanka offered to host the next summit to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the country’s independence. The council welcomed it,” he added.
The meeting also endorsed the appointment of the new Saarc Secretary-General, Sheel Kant Sharma, a former Indian diplomat. Sharma will replace Chenkyab Dorji from Bhutan.
On the sidelines of the summit, foreign adviser Iftekhar A Chowdhury called on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, alongside other Saarc foreign ministers yesterday.
Iftekhar conveyed the country’s gratitude for lifting India’s export ban on rice up to 500,000 tonnes for Bangladesh, which Manmohan said contributed to the “current excellent bilateral relations.”
Iftekhar also met Indian Vice-President Hamid Ansari earlier in the day.
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